'Gener' leaves 12 dead

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – Rains and strong winds brought about by typhoon “Gener” (international name: Saola) left 12 people dead, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Wednesday.

NDRRMC said the latest to be included in the list of fatalities were Romblon residents Mariel Manzo, 11; and Edna Ibañes, 40.

Officials said Manzo died after she got hit in the head by a falling tree. Ibañes, meanwhile, died after an uprooted coconut tree fell on her.

Angelito Bicoy of Quezon Province was the only missing person reported.

NDRRMC said at least 303,941 people across 413 barangays nationwide were affected by the strong rains that started over the weekend. Of these, 4,619 are currently inside evacuation centers.

"It will take about four or five days for the waters to recede, assuming the rains stop now. But if it continues to rain, then naturally, these floodwaters will get even higher," NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos told Agence France-Presse.

Meanwhile, heavy flooding prompted local officials to suspend classes in some areas in Manila and in nearby provinces.

State weather bureau PAGASA earlier said rains will persist for the next five days as the typhoon moves further away from the country.

Gener was last spotted 270 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes. It is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Friday morning.

Gener is heading slowly northward to Taiwan, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour near the center.

PAGASA said about 20 storms slam into the country from the Pacific every year, causing heavy casualties and damage. -- With Agence France-Presse